I seem to recall this time last year, when he had all these injections, Andy said that he had consulted specialists and been assured that he wouldn't aggravate the injury by carrying on playing, and that he would have it properly attended to at the end of the season - then when that came along, and with two weeks' extra break, he heads off to Miami instead for his usual winter training. I just don't understand it, and truly hope he hasn't made the problem worse by putting off getting the treatment he obviously needs.

Personally I'd far rather he skipped RG than risked missing Queens and Wimbledon - something he would find extremely disappointing and frustrating - but the decision isn't in our hands, and nor do we know exactly what's involved or even what the injury is.

Yes I'd wondered about him not getting treatment at the end of the season Aileen. It may be that subsequent advice was that an op (if that was in question) would be too risky or that by end of grass and hard court seasons he decided he could manage it ok with pilates etc (which is what he said he'd been doing). But I'd prefer he didn't risk it at RG and focused on the rest of the season.

I don't know what we can take from Andy waiting until Wednesday to anounce if he's playing RG or not. It might mean he isn't playing but wants to be sure, it could mean he will play but wants to be sure.

I think Andy is right to take his time. The decision has to be what is best for him, he has to feel comfortable with it. If he does pull out I can't imagine he'd like it, but as long as Andy believes he has done the right thing it will be fine. If he isn't sure about the injury it might be better for him not to play, rather than saying he will play and then having to pull out during the tourney. I mean, if he has to pull out Cowan might not approve and we can't have that lol.

I also think we need to be careful when we assume Andy didn't do anything about the injury in the off season. We don't know that. Maybe he did, maybe he tried something and it hasn't worked. Although some media sources are saying Andy has a disc problem, we don't know if that is the case. We don't know what the injury is, we don't know what treatment has been done, apart from Andy saying a while back that he'd tried pilates and found it useful, so we really shouldn't assume.

Lucky Loser, it will probably be Monfils as he apparently hasn't got the WC.

If the draw hadn't started yet the seeds would get a shuffle as well (3 to 2, 5 to 3, 9 to 5, 17 to 9, etc) with the LL taking the place of the highest ranked non-seeded player (who would be bumped to 33rd seed and take the place of 17).

Also, lucky loser spot goes to the highest ranked player who lost in the final round of qualifying that accepts it.

At leadst we know now that it was KM who asked Andy if surgery might be an option. Other than that I don't know what to say. It's a very sobering read. Also, does anyone else get annoyed when other players do the 'Well I've had injuries/illness and played right through it' line? Djokovic probably wasn't talking about Andy when he said that, I doubt very much that he was, but it always strikes me as a monumentally stupid attitude to take. Each player would know their own body and their injuries. They would also know what they can play through and what they can't.

TJ I think Nole was talking about Andy as he'd just mentioned Andy in the larger quote I read earlier in the week. I thought at the time it was totally inappropriate as it implied he was somehow tougher than Andy whereas how many times has he withdrawn from matches during his career compared with Andy?Just read the KM piece and was going to post it but beaten to it X2. Sobering indeed. Though interesting that it doesn't cite Andy's agent who said the scan suggested not as bad as they'd feared. I guess that refers just to how he's aggravated the problem on the clay not the underlying problem. The few comments below are all sympathetic I'm glad to see. There's a shorter piece in the Independent, which quotes Andy's tweet about BC.

TJ I think Nole was talking about Andy as he'd just mentioned Andy in the larger quote I read earlier in the week. I thought at the time it was totally inappropriate as it implied he was somehow tougher than Andy whereas how many times has he withdrawn from matches during his career compared with Andy?Just read the KM piece and was going to post it but beaten to it X2. Sobering indeed. Though interesting that it doesn't cite Andy's agent who said the scan suggested not as bad as they'd feared. I guess that refers just to how he's aggravated the problem on the clay not the underlying problem. The few comments below are all sympathetic I'm glad to see. There's a shorter piece in the Independent, which quotes Andy's tweet about BC.

Well if Djokovic did mean to talk about Andy he has some nerve. I can remember a number of times when he's pulled out of matches, including during majors. He was known for it. He's clearly got a very short memory.

exactly tj. He had said something about it being a shame if Andy didn't play and the journalist said he wasn't exactly shedding tears or words to that effect.Also meant to say that one of the comments below Kev's article referred to a form of treatment I'd not heard of, which she said does more than manage the pain but helps regenerate and is an alternative to endless pain-killers or surgery. Kev does sometime lay it on with a journalistic trowel so I'm hoping that perhaps this article is an example of that as he goes on to make a broader point about the wear and tear on tennis players' bodies but I fear that it's a fair assessment of the seriousness of Andy's condition.Oh and in another article in today's Observer about Rome [the one about Andy is on back of sports section] Kev refers to Andy's 'twitter war on poor Cowans, with followers demanding his removal from the commentary team'.

I saw that comment Ruthie. It really does bug me when people claim some kind of miracle cure for a problem they don't know the basics of. Sometimes it is just an individual who had a good experience, and extrapolates it to apply to everyone else thinking they are being helpful, but more often than not, it's just an unethical way for the sales people to circumnavigate the very important rules on advertising medical treatments.

I've noticed a rash of "experts" telling Andy he should take up yoga, and that will sort him out. Most of them are sincere, even if they are missing the point, but I've seen a few health clinic type places announcing how they'd get Andy fixed up in a jiffy, and even a few blogs explaining that they know how to fix him, and by the way, anyone with a back problem/sports related injury can get in touch. It's really worrying that anyone with any medical knowledge would think they understand the problem when all they've got to go on is what they've seen on the news.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very open to the benefits of yoga and so on, but the good practitioners would never dream of making a diagnosis of someone they've never met, never mind publicly claim they can fix it.

I saw that comment Ruthie. It really does bug me when people claim some kind of miracle cure for a problem they don't know the basics of. Sometimes it is just an individual who had a good experience, and extrapolates it to apply to everyone else thinking they are being helpful, but more often than not, it's just an unethical way for the sales people to circumnavigate the very important rules on advertising medical treatments.

I've noticed a rash of "experts" telling Andy he should take up yoga, and that will sort him out. Most of them are sincere, even if they are missing the point, but I've seen a few health clinic type places announcing how they'd get Andy fixed up in a jiffy, and even a few blogs explaining that they know how to fix him, and by the way, anyone with a back problem/sports related injury can get in touch. It's really worrying that anyone with any medical knowledge would think they understand the problem when all they've got to go on is what they've seen on the news.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very open to the benefits of yoga and so on, but the good practitioners would never dream of making a diagnosis of someone they've never met, never mind publicly claim they can fix it.

I can relate. A few months ago I sustained a severe wrist injury that kept me out of playing fully for nearly a month, but it was not just in tennis that I found the injury most painful. In everyday activities such as writing, lifting etc. it was excruciating. I went to see my GP and he recommended I get a needle stuck into the bottom of my palm, which somehow releases tension on the wrist tendons. I asked for more information and went to consult a professional further. He said that it actually causes more pain than usual instead of curing the injury.

I think the problem with Andy's condition, apart from the all too obvious injury of course, is that everyone has an opinion. I think it's interesting in a sort of broad sense to hear of treatment options, things he could try, but the thing is that no one, apart from him, his team and those who are trying to help him, know exactly what the injury is, how bad it is and what has already been done, if anything, so people don't really know what they are talking about.

I was talking to my sister, who is a nurse, after Andy pulled out in Rome. She said that some back problems can cause hip pain, but equally, some hip problems will cause back pain. She said that without a doctor seeing an injury, knowing the history of it and making a proper assessment, it's impossible to accurately diagnose and more to the point, people shouldn't try. Sounds fair enough to me.

A number of the stories I've read are saying that Andy has a disc injury. Now to be fair I may have missed him saying that, but I don't remember him ever saying exactly what the injury is. I tend to think that if people don't know something, they tend to make their own conclusions, which seems crazy to me. It's that sort of thing that led to certain people to suggest he was being 'a drama queen' last year, and now look where we are.

The thing I sincerely hope is that everyone around Andy will encourage him to go with his instinct about RG. Even if the specialists feel he could play without damaging himself further, if he feels a doubt in his mind, if his gut feeling is telling him not to, he should not play. I'm a believer in instinct. The thing is, I know the rankings are important. I know going a longish period without playing matches might not be ideal, but I think Andy should think about himself and what feels right. It's his career after all.

I thought the press might pick up on the Cowan thing. I thought it was nice to see an uncensored opinion from one of the players. The fact that it was Andy and I agreed with him was neither here nor there lol. The thing is, I like the fact that Andy is natural, but also, if you ask me it shows that he is genuinely interested in the sport. He had no vested interest as such in that match yesterday. He was watching as a punter, like you and me. Therefore he should be able to express an honest opinion. Judging by the numbers agreeing with what he said, I think he has struck a chord with a lot of people.